What IS Salvation Anyway?

These are the days that try men's souls.  The world has come to a screeching halt and most of us have been given a pause in busy-ness and unexpected relief from the "treadmill" of normal life.  Of course this time is a matter of perspective that can swing from fear to faith and back again like the pendulum of time itself.  

I have been encouraged to think about some issues that have been on the back burner of my "mentals" for quite some time.  For me to share what crosses my mind and path is a task that seems to have an assignment attached and a call from My Lord that I must answer to and for. 

The most important message of our lives as Believers is the Gospel Good News of God's unconditional love for humanity and conveying that in our own way to others who make up our world is top priority lest any should miss it.  

That said, I am so thankful for all who share in this season with our feet on planet earth to make this Journey with Jesus and each other.  I am thankful for all the amazing brothers and sisters in Christ across the street and around the world who lend their faith to others whose faith might be faltering in this crisis and to the unsaved that they might seek to find the Peace we have in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.

We recognize that this world is NOT our (Eternal) home.  We are truly just passing through.  Our Eternal Home is with God, who is our Heavenly Father.  While in this temporal place our soul is housed in a physical body subject to the elements of the atmosphere here.  At the moment of our predetermined expiration date, we all will be evacuated and transported into another realm very much alive.  Followers of Jesus call this "Salvation" and for us it will be an alive and "well" living happily ever after in a delightful place and never ending story.

For those who choose to reject Jesus, eternal life brings horrific judgment and agonizing separation from our Creator God Who is the source of all that is "Good".
  
As a follower of Christ Jesus, faith is a supernatural experience for it is written, "Faith is the substance of thing hoped for and the evidence of things unseen."  Faith is action and faith moves through conviction and belief.  Faith treats things hoped for as reality and things unseen as real. Far from a "pollyana" mentality that "everything is beautiful",  faith grabs onto the Word of God and His written promises, convicted and convinced all will come to be. 

Jesus is the One God sent into the world to save us. But to save us from what you might ask?  The simple answer is judgement; Divine judgement which is the penalty for sin that unfortunately all humanity has been born with.  It's called a fallen or "sin nature" embedded in our flesh. 

Consider that the Cross with all its brutality was the place and God's only Son the subject upon whom all God's Holy righteous wrath against sin was poured out.  And the worst of the penalty for sin was suffered as Jesus said, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?"  Separation from His Father God was the worst and deepest agony since it was the first time in eternity such a separation in the Trinity existed. He alone knows of the pain of such a separation because He alone knows the fullness of the love of God.  

To accept Jesus is to acknowledge that we are helpless sinners who deserve the wrath of Holiness, but with overwhelming gratitude for God's gracious provision  where Jesus took our place and our penalty; that's what makes Him our Savior, and then in surrender to His Holy Spirit; that's what makes Him our Lord.

There is no escape from the fallen sin nature other than death,  Our Creator God unwilling that any should perish, provided that a substitute, blood shedding, Holy sacrifice be made available to all and any who would willing accept His gracious gift.

Jesus, the "Savior" Son of God is that "Gift". 

We are all born as the immortal image bearers of the One True God. God's original design gave humanity the mandate to tend to all He created in this world.  It was an assignment to co-labor WITH Him, not to be independently living life here without Him.  

Free will is a God ordained component of Divine design.  For free will to be free there must come to us a choice and with it the freedom to experience the consequences whether good or bad that go with our free will decisions. 

The most far reaching free will decision and consequence that our Sovereign Creator God has established is our eternal destination point, whether with Him in Paradise or without Him in Hell.

Life on this planet for very one of us ever born, boils down to this one eternally consequential free will decision:  Where will we spend eternity and with Whom? 

Time is of the essence to make a decision and make no mistake, a "no" decision is a decision in God's gracious economy.  Either we choose and accept Jesus, as the One God sent to rescue us or not.  The "not" choice is a choice, much as choosing "not" to eat dessert is a choice at the end of a meal.

God's Word is our instruction manual for life here and beyond. Choosing to read it helps us to choose wisely in all other matters of our free will decisions, including where we will spend eternity. 

The choice is ours and one way or another it will be made and then God will honor our choice.

I implore you in love, please seek the One True God and His Son Jesus while He may be found.  

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?     

            





    

     

Supernatural Immunity: The Power of the Blood of Jesus

Connie D'Alessandro‎ to The Spirit is Calling

Today I am sharing something I believe is extremely important and with regard to the virus and Revelation 6:8.

I have been asking the Lord for wisdom in processing the current crisis and how to pray with perspective from the Throne. Today I got a post from a friend that I copied and pasted below.

Then I was taken to God’s Word in Rev 6:8 where it talks about the 4th of the 7 seals of the apocalypse. According to this reading this 4th seal releases the “pale horse” and it brings widespread death from sword and hunger but interestingly some is from the beasts of the earth (the animal kingdom).

That being said, to those who think this virus is like other human flu/sickness we might want to re-think that assumption. The post below relates a knowledgeable assessment of the real threat to humanity and I find that it related to the verses in Revelation 6.

Since this pestilence is animal in origin and we have no natural immunity to it we must then rely on an immunity of a supernatural sort. Our supernatural immunity comes from the Blood of Jesus shed on the Cross. Believers have the ability to call upon the immunity that the Holy Blood gives us in this earth realm where threats can overwhelm our “natural” immunity.

Please read this and call out to our Lord for His provision in the midst of this crisis. And by all means share the information and our faith✝️☝️✅


A friend on Facebook posted this and it explains a lot:

It has been so very hard to be quiet even though my phone is blowing up with questions that I can’t answer... for some of you who don’t know my daughter is a contractor for the CDC in Atlanta, she is a microbiologist.

My sister shared this and I hope those of you who think our government is overreacting read this and also don’t just watch the local news... pay attention globally.

This should help explain why we have to quarantine and not just those with compromised immune systems.... but everyone until this contained.... read it until the end.

Feeling confused as to why Coronavirus is a bigger deal than Seasonal flu? Here it is in a nutshell. I hope this helps. Feel free to share this to others who don’t understand..
.
It has to do with RNA sequencing.... I.e. genetics.

Seasonal flu is an “all human virus”. The DNA/RNA chains that make up the virus are recognized by the human immune system.

This means that your body has some immunity to it before it comes around each year... you get immunity two ways...through exposure to a virus, or by getting a flu shot.

Novel viruses, come from animals.... the WHO tracks novel viruses in animals, (sometimes for years watching for mutations).

Usually these viruses only transfer from animal to animal (pigs in the case of H1N1) (birds in the case of the Spanish flu).

But once, one of these animal viruses mutates, and starts to transfer from animals to humans... then it’s a problem.

Why? Because we have no natural or acquired immunity.. the RNA sequencing of the genes inside the virus isn’t human, and the human immune system doesn’t recognize it so, we can’t fight it off.
Now.... sometimes, the mutation only allows transfer from animal to human, for years it’s only transmission is from an infected animal to a human before it finally mutates so that it can now transfer human to human...

Once that happens..we have a new contagion phase.

And depending on the fashion of this new mutation, thats what decides how contagious, or how deadly it’s gonna be..

H1N1 was deadly....but it did not mutate in a way that was as deadly as the Spanish flu.
It’s RNA was slower to mutate and it attacked its host differently, too.

Fast forward.

Now, here comes this Coronavirus... it existed in animals only, for nobody knows how long...but one day, at an animal market, in Wuhan China, in December 2019, it mutated and made the jump from animal to people.

At first, only animals could give it to a person... But here is the scary part.... in just TWO WEEKS it mutated again and gained the ability to jump from human to human.
Scientists call this quick ability, “slippery”

This Coronavirus, not being in any form a “human” virus (whereas we would all have some natural or acquired immunity). That propelled off like a rocket.

And this was because, Humans have no known immunity...doctors have no known medicines for it.
And it just so happens that this particular mutated animal virus, changed itself in such a way the way that it causes great damage to human lungs..

That’s why Coronavirus is different from seasonal flu, or H1N1 or any other type of influenza.... this one is slippery AF.

And it’s a lung eater... And, it’s already mutated AGAIN, so that we now have two strains to deal with, strain S, and strain L....which makes it twice as hard to develop a vaccine.
We really have no tools in our shed, with this.

History has shown that fast and immediate closings of public places has helped in the past pandemics.
Philadelphia and Baltimore were reluctant to close events in 1918 and they were the hardest hit in the US during the Spanish Flu.

Factoid: Henry VIII stayed in his room and allowed no one near him, till the Black Plague passed...(honestly...I understand him so much better now).

Just like us, he had no tools in his shed, except social isolation...

And let me end by saying....right now it’s hitting older folks harder...

But this genome is so slippery...if it mutates again (and it will). Who is to say, what it will do next.
Be smart folks... acting like you’re unafraid is so not sexy right now.

#flattenthecurve. Stay home folks... and share this to those that just are not catching on...
No photo description available.

For Such a Time as This

In honor of Purim, it's interesting to re-read and re-visit the story of Esther in the Biblical book that bears her name.

This is an amazing and encouraging book and historical account of the over-arching protection by God for His people.  I can see some interesting parallels with what was happening to them back in the days of Esther and the King of Persia, and where God's people find themselves today. 

The account tells of a time when the Jews were living in exile in the land of Persia.  Life was reasonably peaceful but a person with antisemitic hatred had the ear of the King.  

The Body of Christ is like a nation within a nation much like the children of Israel were over the course of their history.  We are a group of Christ followers living in exile away from our Heavenly Home.  We have our "Hamans"; those people in power who lie about us and the "threat" we are to the nation and the world. Their persecution takes various forms from hateful derogatory speech to acts of violence and threats of bodily harm.

The story of Esther is a story of courage and standing firm in the face of incredible odds for her people's right to exist. It is an encouraging story given the social, political and spiritual environment we find ourselves in today. 

Esther was a beautiful Jewess who had captured the heart of the King in the land of exile and he made her his Queen. Unwittingly, the King of Persia had been deceived by one of his advisors, a man  by the name of Haman, about a contrived threat the Jews (and a man named Mordecai) were to his kingdom and was manipulated into signing a decree calling for their annihilation.

Haman did not know of Queen Esther's genealogy nor the favor she had with the King.  Queen Esther was the one person of Jewish descent with standing who could approach the king for favor and she did so with humble grace and great courage.

Since the decree, once sealed could not be revoked, the King out of love for his Queen and her people, permitted anther decree to be sealed whereby it was granted the Jews the ability to fight and defend their lives against any who would come against them. When the devious plot was brought to light,  Haman was hanged on the very gallows he erected to dispose of Mordecai.

As I read this historic account, God's Sovereign providence is clear despite the fact that His name is not mentioned in this book reflecting some of the struggles the Jews have had in their lands of exile.

It is clear to me that while the "battle belongs" to the Lord, we must be prepared to do battle as He grants us the right to fight and defeat the enemy who brings charges against us.  While I see the battle in spiritual terms, the message is clear that we must fight against the attempted annihilation of the faithful here at home and around the world.

Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the dark rulers in the heavenly realm who manipulate people and fan the flames of hatred toward all who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The weapons of our warfare, we are told, are not carnal but have Divine power unto the bringing down of strongholds (power grips) that exist to challenge and if possible destroy our lives, our faith,  and our calling in God's great purpose and will. 

The story of Esther reminds me of all that our Lord God controls and provides for our victories in the trials we face in our temporal land of exile. 

It is important to note that the "Haman" hatred toward people of faith is the hatred inspired by Satan himself and is not reserved only for the people of faith but rather a hatred of all humanity in general.  No one is exempt from being a target of this demonic hatred.  The evil one hates all mankind and seeks to destroy even his loyal followers.  It's only a matter of time until they too are marked for annihilation.

It's now so important that all who are followers of Christ pray for the lost; even and especially those who self-identify as enemies of our Lord.  It's been said that the best way to get rid of an enemy (human and so far as we are able) is to make him a friend.

Who knows and perhaps you were born for such a time as this.

The Spirit is Calling.  Can you hear Him?